<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Round Trip by writersstudy</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26371225">Round Trip</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersstudy/pseuds/writersstudy'>writersstudy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Getting Together, Kpop Ficmix 2020, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:22:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,236</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26371225</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersstudy/pseuds/writersstudy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>If Yixing (and the writers from Cherish) never find out about Baekhyun's feelings during the trip.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Byun Baekhyun/Zhang Yi Xing | Lay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>K-Pop Ficmix 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Round Trip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoroughlynerdy/gifts">thoroughlynerdy</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/10731381">All Expenses Paid</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/thoroughlynerdy/pseuds/thoroughlynerdy">thoroughlynerdy</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi everyone!</p><p>This is a continuation of sorts of All Expenses Paid by thoroughlynerdy for the 2020 K-Pop Ficmix Fest! Essentially, this is where I see the story going if Yixing, and by extension Kyungsoo and Chanyeol, hadn't found out about Baekhyun's true feelings while they were in New York. I know it's a bit short, but I really hope you check out the original and enjoy this little headcanon of mine!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“So that was it.” They were standing in the airport, five feet apart, waiting for their flights. Baekhyun was headed back to Seoul while Yixing was making a detour to Beijing first. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was it,” the older man agreed, “I had fun. You’re a great fake boyfriend.” Baekhyun felt something unfriendly twist in his chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are too,” he said, forcing a smile onto his face, “have a safe flight, okay?” Yixing picked up his bag and hugged Baekhyun before heading to the other end of the terminal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Baekhyun’s flight home was long and grueling. He couldn’t seem to get comfortable enough to fall asleep and the blue running lights in the aisle weren’t helping. By the time he got off the plane, he felt like he’d been hit by a bus. His entire body was sore and he was exhausted. He just wanted to get home and go to bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn, what happened to you?” Jongdae asked when Baekhyun climbed into his car. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t wanna talk about it,” Baekhyun mumbled, “just take me home please?” It was raining in Seoul, so he could stare out the window and pretend he was in a sad music video like he used to in high school.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t believe I was so stupid,” he mumbled finally, “I shouldn’t have done any of it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think you did enough,” Jongdae said, “you should have told him that you like him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And let him reject me halfway across the world? No thanks,” Baekhyun said with a scoff, “he even told me I was a good fake boyfriend. There’s no way someone with feelings would have been able to say that with a straight face.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you gonna do about everyone who reads the article?” Jongdae asked, glancing over at his best friend. Baekhyun dragged his hand over his face with a groan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck, the article,” he said, “I’ve been trying not to think about it. It’s not like I can ask them not to run it. As far as they’re convinced, we’re engaged!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dude, that was your own mistake,” Jongdae said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Baekhyun moaned, “I just wanted to go on a nice trip! How was I supposed to know they’d send a photographer and everything?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wasn’t it in the fine print?” Jongdae yelped as Baekhyun reached over to smack him in the chest. It wasn’t much longer before they reached Baekhyun’s apartment complex. He thanked Jongdae for picking him up and hauled his bags upstairs. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, staring at the message that Yixing had sent hours ago saying he’d landed safely in Beijing. With a heavy sigh, Baekhyun decided he needed a nap before he tried to grapple with his feelings again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The article was everything Baekhyun had expected that it would be. It was soft and sappy, littered with pictures of him and Yixing holding hands and laughing. The older man had even sent him a text about it, congratulating him on what he said would surely be his first of many magazine spreads. Yixing was still in China, so communication between them since the trip had been sparse, but Baekhyun figured that that was probably a good thing. There was no way he was anywhere near ready to face Yixing and smash his own heart into even tinier pieces.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t really surprising when the older man asked to video chat. They had gotten used to seeing each other every day and it was jarring to suddenly not be five feet apart at all times.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You look tired,” Yixing greeted when Baekhyun answered the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow, Xing, thanks,” the younger man said sarcastically, getting a wheezy laugh in return.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry,” he said, “but seriously, are you okay? You look exhausted and there’s no way it’s still jet lag.” Baekhyun sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied, “I’m back at work and they’ve had me working overtime to finish some projects I left while we were gone.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can hang up if you need to get to bed,” Yixing offered, eyebrows furrowing in concern. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” Baekhyun said, “I miss talking to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you end up reading the article?” Yixing asked. Baekhyun nodded. “What did you think?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was cute,” Baekhyun said carefully, “I think we definitely tricked them.” Yixing grinned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They really made it look real, didn’t they?” he said. Baekhyun groaned, dropping his chin to his chest. He really couldn’t do this anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Xing, I gotta go,” he said, “I’ll talk to you later, okay?” He hung up before Yixing could even try to protest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Baekhyun’s newest plan was to just ignore Yixing until all of his feelings went away. Which worked great, until Yixing came back to Korea and showed up at Baekhyun’s door. In the middle of the night. In the rain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Baekhyun,” the older man said when he opened the door, chest heaving like he’d just run all the way there, “you’re avoiding me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You idiot, you’re soaking wet,” Baekhyun fussed, “come inside, I’ll get you a towel.” He turned to walk further into the apartment, but stopped when Yixing grabbed his wrist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re avoiding me and I think I know why,” he said, “I’ve been trying to figure it out for weeks. That trip was the best trip of my life. And we’ve gone on a million vacations together, so I’ve been stuck trying to puzzle out what was so different about this one. Then it hit me.” Baekhyun waited with bated breath for Yixing to figure out what words he needed to say next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The reason this vacation was different,” the older man finally said, “was because we were different. We were acting like a couple instead of just friends. I finally got to play out the fantasy that I’ve had for years. Baekhyunnie, I...it’s real for me too.” Before Baekhyun could even really comprehend what was happening, Yixing had his hands on either side of the younger man’s face andwas kissing him deeply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was different from the other kiss they had shared, back at the suit shop. It was so much more passionate and emotional. He could feel how much Yixing cared for him. Finally, he pushed the older man away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re gonna get us both sick if you don’t come inside and dry off,” he said shyly. His mouth was still tingling. Yixing smiled sheepishly and stepped inside, letting Baekhyun drag him to the bathroom and shove him into the shower. While he was showering, Baekhyun made up two mugs of tea and started a batch of cookies. He’d always been an anxious baker.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you know?” he asked once Yixing was back at the table with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The magazine,” the older man said, “the way you avoided talking about it was my first sign, but when I really looked at the pictures, I realized that we both had the same expressions on our faces, and I knew that mine were because I love you.” Baekhyun felt his entire body shiver just from hearing those words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what now?” he asked, when the tea was almost gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well,” Yixing said, taking one of Baekhyun’s hands in his own, “we’ve been together for four years and everyone already thinks we’re engaged. Plus, think of the tax benefits.” Baekhyun burst out laughing before quickly schooling himself and forcing his face into a pout.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That better not be your proposal.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>